


Ugly Is The New Bubbly

by gala_apples



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Body Image, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-26
Updated: 2012-01-26
Packaged: 2017-10-30 03:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/327405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gala_apples/pseuds/gala_apples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Almost-sixteen year old Patrick is obsessed with becoming a Pretty, but when his best friend Joe runs away, his chances are ruined. To achieve his dream, he has to find Joe and bring him back to the city. On the way, he meets Pete, a twenty-two year old Ugly that changes his mind totally about the Operation and how his life has been lived so far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ugly Is The New Bubbly

**Author's Note:**

> Set slightly prior to Uglies.
> 
> This fic is purposely self-hating. The world it's set in demand that Patrick think himself and everyone else ugly. The author certainly does not share these opinions.

Patrick knows what he looks like. No one ever even had to think of a nickname for him, it was right in his real name. Patrick is a _stump_ , short and fat like a log. He answers to Stump as often as Patrick, and doesn’t let it bother him. As much as he hates it, it’s okay. It’s only temporary, after all, he’s almost sixteen. When that magic day hits he’ll finally get to be a Pretty. They’ll suck out all the fat, fix his hairline, scrub off his skin and replace it with unmarked dermis, grind down the bones of his knobby elbows. And those are just the things he knows he needs, he’s sure there are a thousand other imperfections he’s been too blind to notice. He’ll wake up and be perfect.

Almost as much as Patrick is grateful for the impending surgery, he’s grateful he and Frizz only have birthdays a few weeks apart. A lot of friends get split for months, for years if you’re silly enough to make friends with someone much older or younger than you. No matter what sort of friends forever vow you make, when the eldest has their birthday it’s over until the younger turns. There is an uncrossable line at sixteen, as there should be. No Pretty could ever be friends with an Ugly, how can you be friends when the person wanting to hold your hand makes you retch?

Patrick’s spent most of his life with Joe. He and Frizz met each other their first month moving into the dorms. Patrick had cried, not wanting to listen to the dorm minders telling him that he could still see his parents, he just couldn’t live with them. He wasn’t a Littlie anymore, he was an Ugly, and no one could tolerate his face anymore. Joe had hugged him, telling him it was okay because they were all Ugly in the dorms, and they had really bubbly toys. Since then they haven’t really ever separated. He understands not being able to see Joe-ieo when he’s Pretty and he’s Ugly, he’s just happy it won’t be for long. Joe will only be away from him for sixteen days, just long enough to do the hard work of carving a niche for them in Prettytown. They’ve got a decade to party, they need the best possible station in life. Not that even the worst won’t be wonderful. Everything is guaranteed perfect for New Pretties, it’s not until you’re a Middle Pretty that you need to start worrying about finding a career. Even then, nothing will ever be hard, unless he decides to get some ambition and try to be a member of the Pretty Committee. But that’s unlikely, being one of the people that decide the standards of what an entire society should look like is too much pressure for him.

With only nineteen days left before he gets to become his better self the most hideous thing in the world happens. Joe goes missing. Patrick didn’t even know that was possible. It’s easy to trick the bedrooms into letting you out past curfew, and to make hoverboards do what you want, as long as you’re wearing safety cuffs. It’s harder to trick the bridges into letting you cross and spy on Prettytown, but it’s doable. Patrick doesn’t do it often, it just makes him jealous and yearning for the future. It’s crazy to think someone can just disappear, there’s too much monitoring to keep them safe. He doesn’t know whether to be scared or not, so he just settles on confused.

It only gets worse from there. A cruel looking woman, a Middle Pretty designed to look mean -Patrick didn’t know that was possible either, it doesn’t make sense to him that the Pretty Committee would allow people with faces that could cause nightmares- takes him to her office. He’s never even heard of Special Circumstances. She sits him down and waits until he’s sweaty and breathing hard to tell him unless he brings Joe back he won’t get the operation at all.

They’re the words of a nightmare. Of all the impossible things that have happened, it’s by far the most insane. It’s inconceivable that someone wouldn’t have the Pretty operation at sixteen. It’s like breathing or having sex, a human right. When he tries to explain to all the scary looking Middle Pretties -it’s not just Dr. Cable, more keep filtering in and out of her office, each one making Patrick startle and shudder- how bogus it is, that he doesn’t even know who took Joe, she says she does. She gives him a map out of town and instruct him to find Joe, or he’ll never be Pretty.

Patrick’s spent nearly all of his life wanting to grow up so he can be a Pretty, but now he wants nothing more than to be a Littlie again. If he was three he wouldn’t have to think about all these things. It’s all so hideous he wants to cry, even if crying makes him look even uglier, face pink and splotchy. But it’s clear following her orders is the only way. He is _not_ going to live his entire life as an Ugly. He agrees. She doesn’t seem surprised.

There’s not a lot he has to take with him. A few changes of clothes, and some dehydrated food with a water purifier. His instructions don’t say anything beyond go to the Rusty Ruins and wait. Patrick hated visiting them for class, and he hates them even more now. When he sees the decayed cities of yesteryear he can’t help but think of the idiots that almost destroyed the world, introducing the bacterium that ate everything petroleum based, cutting down all the trees and drilling into the earth to pry metal out. It’s depressing to think about how long it’s going to take for everything to get better.

Dr. Cable told him eventually someone would meet him to take him away, the same person that took Joe. She didn’t tell him he would be an Ugly, and she didn’t tell him he would be old. It’s upsetting to see someone so much older than him look so ugly, it shouldn’t be possible. Patrick can’t help but wonder if the guy did something to piss off Cable, and she followed through on her threat to deny him the Pretty surgery. Even when he tries to talk to him Patrick doesn’t really hear anything, he can’t stop staring at his misshapen features. 

Finally he realises he should probably listen. If Cable said this was the first step to Joe what she really meant was first step to being Pretty. Patrick shakes his head and wipes his dirty glasses on the corner of his shirt. Eyesight, yet another thing he was looking forward to having perfected. Still his blindness comes in handy now, he can smile at the guy without having to look at him. “I’m Patrick.”

“Yeah, guess you figured out I’m not David. His parents got sick, he had to stay. I’m Pete.” He grins and Patrick can’t help but shudder, wishing he hadn’t put them back on his face quite yet. It’s like a Clydesdale is smiling at him. Patrick tries to distract himself. Whatever this is about, it’s probably not a good idea to let Pete know he disgusts him. So he latches onto the first thing possible.

“David lives with his parents?”

Pete seems to understand the oddity of someone not a Littlie living outside the dorms, even if his answer only brings more questions. “Yeah, things are different at Smoke. We should start heading back. It’s not really safe here. Too many Pretty assholes who’d love to catch us.”

Patrick’s not going if he doesn’t know that he’s heading in the right direction. “My friend, Joe-”

“The guy with the bubbly hair?” Patrick stares at Pete. How could anyone think it’s bubbly? There’s a _reason_ everyone calls him Frizz. “Yeah, he showed up last night. Sorry I kept you waiting so long, it’s my first time running a route by myself. Got a bit lost. Promise it won’t happen on the way home.”

The next few days are the roughest Patrick’s ever had. He’s never hoverboarded so much in his life, his legs are cramping by the time Pete sits own for the night. And the entire time Pete is talking, about how great his town Smoke is, about how so many flowers all of the same species look nice but it’s actually a natural disaster, about how Patrick really should have brought more things from Prettytown with him so he’d have trading stock but if he wanted to marry Pete everything he had would be fifty fifty. Patrick decides to take it as a joke of Pete’s rather than a glimpse into the future. After all, it’s not as though anyone could be attracted to him, not the way he looks.

When he’s not talking about the surroundings or the town they’re about to go to, he’s asking Patrick questions about his own life. Some are things he has to lie about, like what brought him to Smoke, which Patrick still hasn’t figured out entirely, besides it’s a city of rebels and everything about it is _amazing_. But Patrick’s honest when he can be, what his favourite tricks to play in the city were, what his mom and dad were like before he had to leave them. And then there’s the music questions. Apparently music is the one thing Pete misses about the city. Patrick loves music, only Joe-ieo rivaling him for amount owned in the dorms. If he’s not looking at Pete he can almost think he’s beautiful, just from the passion he has.

One night Patrick kisses him. He’s not sure why, just that Pete’s kind of awesome. Nobody in Uglytown or Prettytown cares about what gender you’re having sex with, and even though he knows Pete’s been in Smoke six years he hopes the sentiment has stuck. He’d really like to hook up with him before he goes back to civilization.

Pete reacts well for the first few moments, then pushes him away. “That isn’t something you have to do for transport.”

Patrick glares at him. It’s not like he would have done it if he didn’t like him, even if Cable had recommended trying to seduce him. Of course, she never would have asked. In her office in the middle Prettytown the idea of him, an Ugly, a stump, seducing anyone would have been insane.

Pete doesn’t wither under the force of the glare, if anything stands up straighter. Patrick breaks first, trying to explain it wasn’t for transport. Asshole, how could he think that?

“When we get to Smoke, if you still want to you can try again. Not here, not now.” Patrick’s harsh look cements itself on his face. It will be too fucking late then, as soon as he gets to Smoke his orders are clear. He’s to snatch Joe and take him to Dr Cable’s office, so they can question him and see if he’s psychologically damaged.

He knows about the cut down trees, thinks he could probably walk through Smoke blindfolded from all Pete’s told him, but it’s still a shock to see the _wood_ cabin. Pete bellows out a greeting and half a dozen people come to welcome him back, welcome Patrick to their illegal home.

Joe is one of them, and Patrick thinks he might be as shocked to see him as Joe is to see him. In the time it’s taken Patrick to arrive Joe’s changed. He remembers Joe being uglier, but he doesn’t look bad at all. It’s so fucking good to see him. Patrick can’t stop himself from running forward and hugging him. “Joe-ieo, I’ve fucking missed you. They have any music out here?”

Joe hugs him back, hair tickling his face. When he pulls away though, his face is a mixture of confusion and slight distrust. “Patrick-wa, how did you even know? I didn’t invite you, didn’t tell you cause I knew you wouldn’t come. I thought you couldn’t wait for the operation?”

He makes up a quick lie, praying that Joe took the same route he did. He has to, several of the people that live here are staring at him like they think he’s a spy. Which he is, but they can’t know that. _Pete_ can’t know that, he doesn’t want to see the betrayal on his face. “I saw you leaving, followed you as far as the Ruins. I went back to the dorms, but I figured where ever you were going was probably as good as Prettytown, and Prettytown wouldn’t have you.”

“I’m so fucking happy, Trick-wa. It’s great here, no one’s full of bogus lies. There’s this one guy, Andy-la? He was going to be my best friend, without you. But I think you’ll like him too. Do you have any trading stock left?”

Pete speaks up before Patrick can. “As heterosexual life partners, he owns half of what I do.”

Patrick leans into Pete, murmurs _here, now_ before trying again. This time Pete kisses back, pulling Patrick close to him. His tongue licks against Patrick’s too thin lips before darting between them to rub along Patrick’s.

By the time they pull away, Patrick panting from one of the best make outs he’s ever had, only Joe-ieo is still patiently waiting. Pete doesn’t let the lack of audience stop him, he grins at Joe and corrects himself. “As bisexual life partners, he owns half of what I do.”

Patrick was supposed to take Joe back. Rekidnap him and let him get the help he obviously needed, because only crazy people would run from the chance to be Pretty. Except Patrick knows now that he wasn’t really kidnapped. Except he doesn’t think Joe needs help. Patrick knows Dr. Cable would tell him Pete brainwashed him too, subliminal ideas in their talking making him think the same insane thoughts Joe does. Except he knows Pete, the week it took them to travel he thinks he learned everything about him, not all of it positive. Pete doesn’t believe in forcing people to escape Prettytown, he just wants them to have a choice, to be aware of options. Besides, subliminal messages are quiet and sneaky, and Pete’s never been quiet or sneaking about his love for Smoke.

By the time he meets David, Patrick’s sure he’s not taking Joe back. And without Joe, there’s really no point in going back. There he’ll be an old Ugly, misshapen and monstrous. Here everyone is ugly. It’s like the dorms, except no one is spending their time picking at people’s flaws. Patrick doesn’t want to call Joe Frizz anymore, and knows that Joe will never call him Stump again. He’s not sure he believes in everything that the criminals of Smoke do, but better Joe and Pete, a best friend and a possible boyfriend, than all the Pretty strangers in the world.


End file.
